Land degradation

Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment also known as biochemical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land.^[1] It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable.^[2] Natural hazards are excluded as a cause; however human activities can indirectly affect phenomena such as floods and bush fires.

Expert projections suggest that land degradation will be an important theme of the 21st century, impacting agricultural productivity, biodiversity loss, environmental change, and its effects on food security.^[3] It is estimated that up to 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded.^[4]

According to the Special Report on Climate Change and Land of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, "About a quarter of the Earth's ice-free land area is subject to human-induced degradation (medium confidence). Soil erosion from agricultural fields is estimated to be currently 11 to 20 times (no-tillage) to more than 100 times (conventional tillage) higher than the soil formation rate (medium confidence)."^[5]

The United Nations estimate that about 30% of land is degraded worldwide, and about 3.2 billion people reside in these degrading areas, giving a high rate of environmental pollution.^[6] About 12 million hectares of productive land – which roughly equals the size of Greece – is degraded every year. This happens because people exploit the land without protecting it.^[7]^[8] The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15 has a target to restore degraded land and soil and achieve a land degradation-neutral world by 2030.^[9]

^ Conacher, Arthur; Conacher, Jeanette (1995). Rural Land Degradation in Australia. South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press Australia. p. 2. ISBN 0-19-553436-0.
^ Johnson, D.L., S.H. Ambrose, T.J. Bassett, M.L. Garfield Bowen, D.E. Crummey, J.S. Isaacson, D.N. Johnson, P. Lamb, M. Saul, and A.E. Winter-Nelson. 1997. Meanings of environmental terms. Journal of Environmental Quality 26: 581–589.
^ Eswaran, H.; R. Lal; P.F. Reich (2001). "Land degradation: an overview". Responses to Land Degradation. Proc. 2nd. International Conference on Land Degradation and Desertification. New Delhi: Oxford Press. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
^ Ian Sample (31 August 2007). "Global food crisis looms as climate change and population growth strip fertile land". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 April 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
^ Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems (PDF). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2019. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
^ Le, Quang Bao; Nkonya, Ephraim; Mirzabaev, Alisher (2014). "Biomass Productivity-Based Mapping of Global Land Degradation Hotspots". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2465799. hdl:10419/106616. ISSN 1556-5068. S2CID 126829880.
^ "Artificial intelligence makes restaurants and farms more sustainable". European Investment Bank. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
^ "24 billion tons of fertile land lost every year, warns UN chief on World Day to Combat Desertification". UN News. 16 June 2019. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
^ "Goal 15 targets". UNDP. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2020.

[rural-1] Conacher, Arthur; Conacher, Jeanette (1995). Rural Land Degradation in Australia. South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press Australia. p. 2. ISBN 0-19-553436-0.

[2] Johnson, D.L., S.H. Ambrose, T.J. Bassett, M.L. Garfield Bowen, D.E. Crummey, J.S. Isaacson, D.N. Johnson, P. Lamb, M. Saul, and A.E. Winter-Nelson. 1997. Meanings of environmental terms. Journal of Environmental Quality 26: 581–589.

[3] Eswaran, H.; R. Lal; P.F. Reich (2001). "Land degradation: an overview". Responses to Land Degradation. Proc. 2nd. International Conference on Land Degradation and Desertification. New Delhi: Oxford Press. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.

[4] Ian Sample (31 August 2007). "Global food crisis looms as climate change and population growth strip fertile land". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 April 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2008.

[5] Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems (PDF). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2019. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.

[6] Le, Quang Bao; Nkonya, Ephraim; Mirzabaev, Alisher (2014). "Biomass Productivity-Based Mapping of Global Land Degradation Hotspots". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2465799. hdl:10419/106616. ISSN 1556-5068. S2CID 126829880.

[eib.org-7] "Artificial intelligence makes restaurants and farms more sustainable". European Investment Bank. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.

[8] "24 billion tons of fertile land lost every year, warns UN chief on World Day to Combat Desertification". UN News. 16 June 2019. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.

[Goal_15_targets-9] "Goal 15 targets". UNDP. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]